Hot Cocoa, Castiel?
by anoodlittlelife
Summary: It's winter time in the bunker and Castiel's learning about all sorts of Christmas traditions... with Dean's help, of course. (AU where Cas never left the bunker in 9x03)


"This drink… it's delicious." Castiel stared down in awe at the tiny marshmallows starting to dissolve in his mug. "What did you say it's called?"

Dean chuckled softly. "It's hot cocoa, Cas. You've really never had it before?" Castiel shook his head and took another sip. Dean raised an eyebrow. "Damn… do they have anything good in Heaven?"

Cas ignored Dean's comment and gazed into the fireplace in front of them. It was the boys' first winter at the bunker and Dean had decided to participate in Christmas a bit more this year than usual… which wasn't much, considering their "usual" was a round of cheap liquor in a run-down motel room. But still, the burning fireplace and old Christmas records playing softly in the background seemed to set a mood of festivity beyond the basic effort. Sam had even hung a couple stockings on the mantel despite the inevitability of them remaining empty on Christmas morning. It was nothing special, but to the two boys that grew up on stolen trinkets as Christmas gifts, it was perfect.

Taking another sip of his hot chocolate, Dean stood up from the couch and walked over to the record player. The cover of whatever record was currently playing was leaned against the player, so he picked it up and skimmed through the song choices on the back. He didn't recognize most of the songs, but one caught his eye and he spun around excitedly to change it on the player. The music stopped for a second as Dean moved the little metal arm closer to the center of the disc, so Castiel turned around to see what was going on. The soft tune of _Merry Christmas to You_ began playing and a big smile spread across Dean's face as he walked back to the couch.

"This was Sammy's favorite Christmas song when we were kids." he said with the same grin, "We never listened to Christmas music around Dad, but when he'd leave as in the motel for the night, I'd always turn on the radio for Sammy because I knew he loved it. He'd never admit that he did, of course, but whenever this song came on his face would light up like a Christmas tree…" Dean paused as he remembered his little bother's face that Christmas in '90. Seeing him get that excited about anything was the only present he needed that year.

Before Dean could finish his story, Cas looked thoughtfully at the fire again and turned to Dean. "What exactly is the purpose of a Christmas tree, Dean?"

Dean raised an eyebrow at the question and sat next to him on the couch again. "Well…" he searched his mind for some sort of acceptable answer, "I think people just put them up for decoration. You know, to get in the _Christmas Spirit_."

"I see." Cas replied simply, turning back to the fire. After a moment he asked, "Why don't we have one here?"

Dean looked incredulously at the ex-angel. "Well… I dunno. We've never had one before. Why? Do you want us to get you one?" he said, only half joking.

Castiel looked at Dean again and smiled widely. "Yes… I think I'd like that very much."

Dean laughed and drank the last of his hot cocoa. "Alright, then. We'll getcha a Christmas tree tomorrow. We won't have any decorations for it, though."

"That's fine." Cas said with a smile. "Thank you, Dean."

"Sure thing, man." Dean replied. He watched a Cas turned back to the fire, still smiling, and sipping slowly at his drink. God, he loved that smile. He had only seen it a handful of times when Cas still had his grace, but now that he was staying in the bunker with them, that smile had become more and more common. Sure, it was hard on Cas to adapt to human life and they were all still working on finding a way to get the angels back in Heaven, but Dean couldn't deny how happy he was to have the guy around all the time.

He snapped out of gaze suddenly when Sam shouted somewhere from the bunker, "Hey Dean! I need your help with something real quick."

Dean sighed and set his empty mug on the small table beside him. Cas glanced over and did the same, standing up at the same time as Dean. The hunter was about to tell him that he didn't have to come, but he secretly liked when Cas followed him around, so he kept silent. He walked around the couch and started headed towards the door, Castiel practically stepping on his heels. Suddenly he felt an arm stop him, so he turned around to see what was wrong.

"Dean, what's that plant doing there? Is that another one of your Christmas traditions?" Castiel asked, pointing at the small mistletoe hanging above the doorway they had both stopped under.

_Damn it, Sam…_ Dean thought. There was no doubt in his mind that his brother had hung that up there as a joke for Cas and him. He probably didn't even need help with anything… just wanted to them to walk under it at the same time.

"Um, it's…" Dean rubbed the back of his neck and became aware of the hand still lingering on his arm, "…it's called mistletoe. People say that when a couple is standing under it, they, uh… well, they have to kiss." Part of him wanted to turn back around and continue past the door to avoid any awkward situations, but the other part kept him standing there and he wasn't quite sure why. His eyes flickered down to Cas's lips subconsciously. Suddenly he realized what he was doing and his eyes snapped up to Castiel's bright blue eyes instead. He shifted to turn away, but suddenly a pair of lips was pressed to his and hands were pulling his face closer. Dean's eyes were wide open in surprise, and his heart was pounding hard. Their noses brushed as Cas turned to fit their lips more comfortably together and Dean all-but swooned. He suddenly forgot any doubts he had about being attracted to the guy and went with the kiss. His hands found Cas's waist and pulled him closer, pressing deep into his soft, grey sweater. His eyes fluttered shut as he caught Cas's bottom lip with his own. Cas's finger tips slipped through his hair and Dean couldn't help but sigh heavily. They lingered on each other's lips longer than they probably should, but finally broke away when neither of could hold their breath any longer.

Dean looked down breathlessly at Cas. He could feel Cas' heart beating through the sweater as hard as his. "I…" Dean tried to speak, but words escaped him.

Suddenly a chair clattered behind them, and Dean jumped away. Sam was standing with wide eyes in the other room, staring at the scene before him.

Dean stammered wordlessly, trying to come up with an explanation as to what Sam had just witnessed. But before he could think of anything, Castiel pointed to the small plant again and said, "We were standing under the mistletoe. And Dean said–"

"Um, yeah, I know… I heard him." Sam interrupted. His shock turned to amusement as he noticed Dean's desperate expression.

"Not. A. Word." Dean said threateningly. He could feel himself blushing as Sam smiled all-to-knowingly at him.

Sam threw his hands up at Dean's threat and kept grinning as he walked back into the other room. He sat down and laughed to himself. _Well it's about damn time._


End file.
